“We hope that our gift will help be a catalyst for others to follow our lead.” — Rob Ashe and Sandra Herrick

“We hope that our gift will help be a catalyst for others to follow our lead.”

— Rob Ashe and Sandra Herrick

Leading by example with a $10-million donation to the Campaign to Create Tomorrow

When Rob Ashe first began volunteering with the Civic Foundation back in 1995, he and his wife, Sandra Herrick, never could have imagined they would be part of a vision to transform healthcare for generations to come.  

Now, with their donation of $10 million to The Ottawa Hospital, they hope to have an early and direct impact on the success of the most ambitious fundraising campaign in Ottawa’s history. 

The $500-million Campaign to Create Tomorrow sets in motion a vision to transform how the world delivers healthcare — by building the most technologically advanced hospital in Canada and taking groundbreaking research and innovation to unprecedented heights.  

This incredible donation is part of the $216 million raised to date. 

Rob and Sandra have been long-time supporters of the Ottawa community, actively supporting the YMCA, the Boys and Girls Club, the Dom Herrick Entrepreneur in Residence at the Telfer School of Management, and various mental health initiatives. So it was an easy decision to support the Campaign to Create Tomorrow — both through Rob’s role on the campaign executive and through their donation — knowing it will attract a new cohort of healthcare experts to Ottawa and ultimately strengthen critical services like acute mental health care.

From his time at Cognos and IBM to joining the board at Shopify, Rob knows better than most the importance of investing in people. With their gift, Rob and Sandra are making a significant investment in the people of The Ottawa Hospital – some of the brightest minds from around the world.  And in turn, this investment will help benefit countless people in their community. 

Thank you, Rob and Sandra, for your extraordinary generosity, your volunteerism, and for joining us as we transform the future of healthcare for generations to come.

About the Campaign to Create Tomorrow

The Campaign to Create Tomorrow is the largest fundraising campaign in our region’s history. It will help fulfil the most ambitious vision ever for the future of The Ottawa Hospital, focused on four critical pillars.  

INNOVATION & TECHNOLOGY

See how we’ll become the most technologically advanced hospital in the country, using the latest tools to provide the right care in the right space with the right provider.
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WORLD LEADING RESEARCH

Through our unique collaborative model of clinicians and researchers working side-by-side, we will bring groundbreaking discoveries to patients in Ottawa — and around the world.
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STRENGTHENING CRITICAL SERVICES

From trauma care to cancer advancements to neuroscience, we will strengthen our critical services for patients across the region.
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